Rainfall a welcome relief from devastating drought

As South Africans living in a country that has a signal dearth of perennial rivers, rainfall has a hugely important impact on every aspect of our lives: from arriving at work with dry feet to the cost of food on the supermarket shelves.

Having just come through the discomfort and devastation wrought by an El Nino-driven drought, the skies have truly started to open with a vengeance over Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

In contrast, the Western Cape is crying out for moisture-laden clouds to lighten the atmosphere and ease the necks of the farmers, ricked from scanning the dry skies above, even though their major rains come during the winter months.

Experts remain cautious on the rain, signalling the start of a season of La Nina to counteract the effects of what has gone before, saying the weather is the harbinger of a distinctly chill winter to follow.

But suffice it to say that while the rains continue to teem upcountry, we would suggest that the damp citizens of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal would gladly swap a goodly portion of their sodden existence for an equitable quantity of good Cape wine.

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